BIOVALOR Project - An academic partnership to develop the bioeconomy

Benin’s economy is largely dominated by agriculture (70% of the working population, 33% of GDP). Densely populated and located on a key transit route between Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, Southern Benin enjoys an enabling environment for innovation in agricultural development and the valorisation of bioproducts. 
Stakeholders in the flagship sectors (rice, pineapple, cashew) and high-potential orphan crops (shea, fonio, miraculous berry or sisré), promoted by the Beninese government, worked closely with the BIOVALOR teams to identify the required skills as well as the scientific obstacles currently blocking not only the development of their sectors, but also, as a result, the professional integration of graduates. In parallel, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the Université d’Abomey-Calavi (FSA-UAC) has worked to ensure that the contents of its training programmes are in line with the needs of these sectors, as these are an economic priority for the country.

The BIOVALOR project aims to set up a long-term partnership for higher education programmes delivered at the Université d’Abomey-Calavi: a quality, job-oriented Bachelor’s/Licence, Master’s and PhD/Doctorate programme, attractive at national and international levels and focused on the valorisation of bioresources, bioprocesses and bioproducts. The ambition is to train actors to develop the bioeconomy in Benin. 

This project was selected for the first edition of the “Academia Partnerships Africa-France” programme (PeA). It is financed by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs via the Agence française de développement (AFD). The PeA programme is implemented by the Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR – French National Research Agency) and Campus France with support from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. 

This project contributes to achieving the following  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Co-build quality, job-oriented training programmes on the African continent (SDG 4).
• Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation that benefits all and foster innovation (SDG 9).
• Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG 12).